1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to glass fiber reinforced metal-polymer laminates and more particularly to laminates for applications which require high impact strength.
2. Background Information
High performance materials are required for aircraft floors and fire wall liners in cargo areas. Some important properties for cargo floors are impact strength, bending stiffness, bearing properties and surface corrosion resistance. For fire walls, the important properties include fire resistance, bearing properties, abrasion resistance and impact strength.
Conventional aluminum alloy aircraft floors and glass fiber composite firewall liners (typically containing glass fiber weaves) require frequent repair or replacement due to their limited puncture resistance. Excessive abrasion damage and poor bearing properties are additional causes for frequent repair or replacement of panels made from glass fiber composites. In view of these shortcomings in the prior art, there remains a need for laminated panels having improved impact resistance.
It is a principal objective of the present invention to provide a metal-polymer laminate reinforced with bidirectional glass fibers and having improved impact resistance.
A related objective of the invention is to provide a laminate panel having satisfactory bending stiffness, bearing properties, surface corrosion resistance, fire resistance and abrasion resistance so that the panel will be useful for aircraft floors and fire wall liners.
Additional objectives and advantages of our invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description.